Growth of house prices eased during December

January 10, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

House Prices

The growth of house prices in the UK eased off during December compared with the month before, according to the latest figures to be issued.

Nationwide has just released its newest House Price Index and it shows that price growth was slower in December. During November, the average house price in the UK grew by 1.8%. By comparison, it was just 0.6% over the course of last month. What this means in practice is that the average price actually fell from November to December. This left it at £271,068, whereas in November it stood at £272,998.

There was a 0.4% drop in UK house prices over the final month of the year, while November brought a rise of 0.3%. Despite that though, the housing market is showing every sign of holding up well.

Robert Gardner works for Nationwide as its chief economist. He was quoted by Mortgage Solutions as saying the figures show a softening of growth rather than anything more serious.

He then went on to say that:

“Even though consumer sentiment was relatively subdued, with households reluctant to spend and mortgage rates around three times their post-pandemic lows, mortgage approvals remained near pre-Covid levels.”

The part of England where price growth was highest was the North West. Here it was 3.2% year-on-year and 3.5% quarter-on-quarter. Overall though, Northern Ireland was the UK region with the highest level of price growth. There it was 9.6% year-on-year and 9.7% quarter-on-quarter.

Those with CeMAP mortgage advisor training will welcome the market holding up to an extent, but will have affordability concerns.